


Sen no Yoru wo Koete

by TheEigthPillarGeneral



Series: Black Moon [18]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, M/M, Romance, Sexual Humor, Visual Kei, music industry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 22:10:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15277236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEigthPillarGeneral/pseuds/TheEigthPillarGeneral
Summary: Renji records a duet song with Byakuya, who also plans his first live.





	Sen no Yoru wo Koete

**Author's Note:**

  * For [junko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/gifts), [Josey (cestus)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cestus/gifts).



> I'm so sorry for how late this is, a lot has happened in the past while, but I've finally managed to get it out.
> 
> Fun fact: whenever I'm stuck on ideas, I listen to music to see which characters should make which music. So far, for Black Moon, it's GazettE and a few others. As for Byakuya, it's the Versailles Philharmonic Quintet. I hope you enjoy!

As the days continued, Byakuya began to settle in the music industry as an artist and get used to the new lifestyle. It was definitely a lot different from his days as only a CEO, but he couldn’t have asked for anything else. He’d met a lot of new and quirky people in the industry as he began to build up his team. With Ukitake’s help, Byakuya had managed to find himself a personal stylist and makeup artist who helped create his signature appearance that would make him recognizable to the public.

But to be honest, the photo shoots were quite exhausting for him. Having done his first photoshoot for the October issue of _Cure,_ Byakuya had found himself incredibly tired, considering that it took an entire day in costume and makeup before he was allowed to go home for the night. The photo shoot had been Rococo-inspired, as it had taken place in a very European palace-like building, and Byakuya’s costume had been reminiscent of eighteenth-century French aristocracy.

Funny enough, after that photo-shoot, Byakuya had become interested in the Rococo style and costumes from that period, and he began to find a way to incorporate them into his signature style. Since he was already creating songs with a symphonic metal style, he figured that he should have something period-appropriate, something that suited the style of music. Even if his first single was more contemporary, Byakuya wanted to transition into symphonic-styles that suited the style of person he was portraying himself as to the public. After all, many musicians portrayed themselves in a certain image for their fans.

Renji portrayed himself as a dangerous bad boy; come to think of it, all of Black Moon portrayed themselves that way. The Beauty Queens portrayed themselves as cool, stylish, and glamorous girls with a sort-of sexy allure (Orihime was more on the pure and innocent side, though. Rangiku was coy, yet not overtly seductive). The Tres Bestias portrayed themselves as tough bad girls who didn’t take shit from anyone. Hisana had portrayed herself as the cute girl-next-door who could’ve been your childhood friend. Unohana Yachiru portrayed herself as a regal and elegant lady; a Yamato Nadeshiko, one would say.

As for himself, Byakuya was going to be portraying himself as a beautiful yet brooding and lonely aristocrat who longed for love, yet had a dark side that was too dangerous, that hurt whoever got close to him. It wasn’t too different from how he was in reality, actually. Then again, it seemed like many musicians hinted at a bit of their true selves when creating their image. And sure, Byakuya knew that it was a little bit theatrical and dramatic but then again, he always did have a penchant for theatrics. And if his family got upset at how Byakuya was portraying himself, well, that was their problem.

Speaking of which…

Byakuya hadn’t heard a single word from his family since the release of his first single. It was surprising, since he’d honestly expected to see his phone blowing up with phone calls and text messages from angry family members. Yet it was all quiet on the front. A little bit too quiet, perhaps.

But Byakuya wouldn’t lie, he was glad they hadn’t called him so far. Perhaps they were too surprised that he’d actually gone ahead and released a song. Well, whatever the reason, he was relieved that he didn’t have to deal with any family drama or outrage. Could they have accepted that Byakuya wanted to be an artist and backed off?

No, as if they’d ever think like that.

Rukia, on the other hand, had been thrilled to hear Byakuya’s new single. Her support was something that Byakuya always cherished and her praise regarding his new songs were no different. So long as he had Rukia’s support, then Byakuya was fine with receiving no support from the family.

In fact, the amount of support he’d received was enough to make him plan on releasing another single along with ‘Kanade Aragai Kou’, which was what he was meeting with his backing band about. He wanted to show that he wasn’t just all about gentle tunes and soulful melodies. Having been inspired by Unohana Yachiru, Byakuya wanted to venture into the symphonic metal style of music and bring a more… dramatic flair to his own style.

But of course, planning his first live was more important as of now.

“Since you’ll be performing only five songs, since we're adding your second and third singles onto the setlist as of now, how would you like to go about this?” Ukitake asked him.

“I’d like to start things simple,” Byakuya said. “Nothing too dramatic… yet.”

“Yet?” Byakuya glanced over at Starrk, the drummer of his backing band. “What do you mean by that?”

Byakuya gave him a nod. “I would like to explore some of the more… theatrical elements of symphonic and neoclassical metal. Furthermore, to explore the concepts of honour and beauty, I’m interested in using the Rococo fashion, particularly the original style of Rococo, or Louis Quinze, from eighteenth-century France,” he said.

“Rococo fashion?” the keyboardist, Tsukishima, looked quite interested. “Indeed, it’s a beautiful style. I think it would look wonderful!”

Both Starrk and Tsukishima were from Nejibana, the backing band that Byakuya was working with. It was fronted by Shiba Kaien, the lead guitarist and the cousin of Kurosaki Ichigo. The rest of the band consisted of Shiba Miyako, the rhythm guitarist and Kaien’s wife; Tsukishima Shukuro, the book-loving keyboardist; Ulquiorra Cifer, the bassist with a curiosity about human nature; and Coyote Starrk, the drummer who liked to sleep a lot.

They all specialized in symphonic metal, which was what Byakuya was interested in experimenting with. Not to mention, they were all remarkably talented at their instruments, and Byakuya had been pleased when he’d heard them play for the first time. He couldn’t have asked for a better band to record with, and he was enjoying working with them.

Ukitake raised an eyebrow at Byakuya. “I didn’t know you had a penchant for theatrics, Byakuya-kun,” he observed.

“I suppose I do,” Byakuya agreed. “I want to hint at this a little bit in the costumes for my first live, so I was thinking about using some of the aesthetics of eighteenth-century French nobility.”

“Interesting,” Ulquiorra said. “Will that be something exclusive only for the live?”

“I was wanting this to be a consistent theme with my style,” Byakuya told him. “After all, I want my first live to be memorable. I’d like to start out slow and gentle, and then gradually reveal a more theatrical side to myself.” He thought for a moment. “How do you feel about appearing as an entourage of French nobles?”

“You want us to wear costumes too?” Kaien asked, surprised.

“That was why I asked you to have your measurements taken for Shutara-san. Even if you’re the backing band, you’re just as important,” Byakuya pointed out. “I’d like for you to have a strong stage presence as well.”

“You’ve been thinking this through, haven’t you?” Miyako asked, smiling kindly.

Byakuya nodded. “I have,” he said, turning to Ukitake. “Has Shutara-san responded about times for costume-fitting?”

“She has,” Ukitake said. “This Friday, she’s scheduled you for costume-fitting. According to her, you’ll all love what she’s made for you.”

Kaien made a face. “I kinda hope it’s not too gaudy,” he said, making a face. “I hate those kinds of clothes.”

“Kaien!” Miyako chided, frowning at him. “Don’t be rude!”

“But I hate frills!” Kaien protested.

Byakuya chuckled. He really was Ichigo’s cousin.

* * *

It was a quiet day today and Renji planned on enjoying it to the fullest. They’d finally finished recording all tracks of ‘Dark of the Bleeding Moon’ and had sent the songs off to be mixed and mastered by Otoribashi Rojuro the other day. Last night, he and the band had gone out for drinks as a little post-recording party with the rest of their team after a brief meeting about the album cover itself. Renji hadn’t felt this excited in such a long time, not since his days in his last band.

As part of his day off, Renji was sitting on his couch and reading Byakuya’s interview with Kotetsu Isane on her blog. Meanwhile, Hisagi, Kira, and Rukia were playing a round of _Mario Kart_ on Renji’s Wii, and judging from the sounds of it, Rukia was winning yet again. Though Renji was tuning them out in favour of reading the interview.

Even in the interview, Byakuya had a rather perceptive and sensitive way of speaking. He spoke about his inspirations for his new single, his upcoming live at Meguro Rokumeikan, and about his upcoming single ‘Kanade Aragai Kou’ and his first album ‘Hakuteiken’. For the most part, Byakuya’s answers were very eloquent, giving his own insights and thoughts about making music and performing concerts.

One of the questions surprised Renji a little, but he supposed that it was to be expected.

Towards the end of the interview, Isane had asked:

_There may be people who will know you only as Hisana’s husband, and it is possible that those views might impact your career. How do you feel about this?_

Renji couldn’t help but wince internally as he remembered the scandal. Until then, Hisana had had a very successful career as one of the top idols in Japan. She’d toured abroad, had carefully cultivated her image into the sweet girl-next-door kind of idol, and had practically thousands of fans worldwide. Honestly, Renji had to wonder how she and Byakuya managed to hide their relationship for two years. How they got discovered was something that he didn’t really want to know.

The fallout from the whole thing had been absolutely brutal. He’d seen the nasty comments on various forums, the photos of fans burning Hisana’s albums and merchandise, the death threats online, and the shaming in various gossip rags. Within a few weeks, Hisana had gone from a famous idol to the black sheep of the idol industry, having been dropped by her producer and record label, and effectively out of a career. Of course, there were a few fans that didn’t drop her immediately, but they were few and far in between.

At the same time, Renji had to wonder what the public had thought of Byakuya for marrying Hisana. He didn’t remember seeing anything about Byakuya in any of the gossip rags, though he definitely knew how his family had reacted. With that in mind, he began reading Byakuya’s answer for Isane’s question.

_Indeed, this is a definite possibility. However, I am not as afraid as I once was. Whether people see me as a musician or as Hisana’s widower is up to them, but it doesn’t really matter how they see me. For a long time, I was made to think and worry about other people’s opinion of myself, but I do not want to worry about it anymore. I make music because I like it, and people have the choice to like it or not. As for how it will impact my career, I do not feel too afraid about it because I have a lot of support from understanding people._

Renji smiled slightly. Byakuya had become so much braver this past while and he was proud of him. Just earlier, he’d watched the music video for ‘Yozora no Kawa’ and had been amazed at how visually-spectacular it was. Byakuya had looked so breathtakingly beautiful and elegant throughout, especially with sakura petals delicately falling all around him.

So lost in his thoughts, Renji failed to hear Rukia calling for him until she punched his upper arm. “Renji, you fool! I’m talking to you!” she snapped.

“What?” Glancing at her, Renji noticed that Rukia was frowning at him while Hisagi and Kira were looking at him in mild confusion.

“Come and join us, Renji!” Rukia told him, handing him one of the controllers.

“Hold on, I’m not done yet,” Renji said, sounding a little distracted. “You guys can keep playing.”

Rukia peered over his shoulder at his laptop screen. “Just what are you doing that’s so- oh, you’re reading Nii-sama’s interview,” she said.

Hisagi chuckled. “So Kuchiki’s interview is more important than video games, eh, loverboy?” he teased.

Kira looked surprised. “Whoa. You and Kuchiki Byakuya are a thing?” he asked.

“They’ve been together since May,” Rukia told him, looking proud.

“Okay, I’m done!” Renji closed his laptop and set it aside. “I’m ready to play now.”

Rukia gave him the controller from earlier and Renji chose his character before they started another round of racing. Renji was winning this round, managing to navigate the motorcycle on-screen pretty well.

“How the hell are you able to control the motorcycles like that?” Rukia asked, looking slightly annoyed as her character got hit by a red shell.

“One of the benefits of actually driving a motorcycle, my friend,” Renji teased.

“You ever given Kuchiki a ride on your motorcycle yet?” Kira asked. “Like, on a date or something?”

“Not yet,” Renji admitted.

“Why not?”

“‘Cause Renji gives him a ride on something else,” Hisagi joked, laughing at the flustered choking sounds coming from Renji.

“Dude!” Renji looked at him disbelievingly. “What the fuck?! Seriously, why’d you have to say that?”

“Yeah, thanks for putting the image of my brother-in-law and best friend fucking into my head!” Rukia added, looking equally embarrassed.

Kira looked at her. “Weren’t you excited when Renji and Ichigo were flirting with each other onstage at the concert?” he asked.

“But that’s fanservice! What Hisagi just said, well… there are some things I don’t really need to see, okay?” Rukia retorted.

Right then, Hisagi’s character crossed the finish line, promptly winning the race. “Fuck yeah, I won this round!” he cheered.

“No fair, we were distracted!” Rukia protested. “You said that just to throw us off, didn’t you?”

Right then, Renji’s phone went off with a text alert. While Rukia and Hisagi continued their banter, Renji set his controller aside and glanced at the screen. On it was a message from Byakuya, asking him for a little favour regarding a song. Smiling, Renji texted an affirmative, asking him what he wanted.

It took a few minutes for Byakuya to respond but his reply left Renji quite surprised.

Byakuya had written: _Regarding my song, ‘Sen no Yoru wo Koete’, I want it to be a duet song, and I wish to have you featured in it. How do you feel about that?_

Byakuya wanted him to sing for one of his songs? Renji did not expect this request at all. It wasn’t like Renji didn’t know how to sing; he sang backup vocals quite a bit during recording and lives. But he’d never been a vocalist in any of his previous bands. He’d been a rhythm guitarist, a bassist, and even a drummer, but never a vocalist. Was this because he’d asked Byakuya to play the piano for one of their songs in the upcoming album?

However, Renji couldn’t help but feel flattered that Byakuya had asked for him to sing with him. Besides, he wanted to do this with him. Byakuya had played the piano for one of their songs, so Renji would be glad to lend his voice for one of Byakuya’s own songs. With that, he sent an affirmative text, telling him that he’d be glad to help him out.

Kira glanced over at him. “Did Kuchiki-san text you?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Renji said. “He wants to have me featured in one of his songs, as in, me singing a few verses with him.”

Rukia looked at him in surprise. “Nii-sama actually said that?” she asked.

Even Hisagi looked a little surprised. “Seriously?” he asked. “What’d you tell him?”

“I said yes,” Renji said, smiling. “After all, he played the piano for one of our songs, right? So I thought I’d repay the favour.”

“That’s wonderful, Renji!” Rukia told him, looking thrilled. “Nii-sama really does trust you, doesn’t he?”

Renji chuckled. “I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous about it, since I’ve never been a vocalist in any of my previous bands. But hey, I’ll do my best.”

“But you do backup vocals,” Hisagi pointed out. “And you’re pretty good at them.”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Renji replied. “Anyways, I’ve already told him that I’ll do the vocals for the song.”

Rukia smiled. “I’m so excited for Nii-sama’s first album,” she admitted. “I’ve been helping him record and produce his tracks and they’re sounding so good. He’s been experimenting with symphonic and neoclassical metal styles, you know?”

“Seriously?” Hisagi asked, looking impressed. “Damn, that’s awesome.”

“He told me he wants to go into the symphonic styles of music,” Rukia was saying. “Even more, he’s said that he’s been inspired by Rococo style and plans on incorporating it into his own style and appearance.”

“Rococo?” Renji repeated.

“It’s a style from eighteenth-century France,” Rukia explained. “It’s very intricate and lavish; a little theatrical as well, but it totally suits Nii-sama.”

Renji raised an eyebrow. So Byakuya had a theatrical side to him? Well, that was going to be interesting. “It suits him?” he asked.

“Totally! Here, this is a preview photo from his first photoshoot.” Rukia turned on her phone and selected a photo to show to Renji.

Taking the phone to see it, Renji’s eyes widened slightly at the photo.

The photo had been taken in a European-inspired building, a Rococo-style parlour with dark overtones. But that wasn’t what caught his eye.

Byakuya looked so… elegant. He wore a three-piece suit that consisted of a white shirt with a ruffled collar, black leather pants, and a black waistcoat. Over that he wore a long black coat embroidered with intricate gold patterns. On his feet, he wore black dress shoes. His hair was flowing freely, framing his beautifully-made up face. With winged eyeliner, dark eyeshadow, and lips painted with crimson-red lipstick, Byakuya looked so gorgeous. In the photo, he held a single red rose as he stood by a window, staring longingly at the night sky.

He was stunning.

“Holy shit…” Renji whispered, eyes glued to the photo. “He is _beautiful.”_

Hisagi smiled teasingly. “Well, aren’t you such a dork, Renji,” he teased.

“Oh, you should talk, Mr. ‘I-Blush-When-Matsumoto-Rangiku-Smiles’,” Renji retorted.

“Funny how they’re both big dorks even though they look like punks,” Kira observed while Renji and Hisagi bickered teasingly. “How did that even happen?”

“I ask myself that everyday,” Rukia said, chuckling to herself.

* * *

When Renji entered Byakuya’s apartment, the first thing he noticed was the group of five people he’d never seen before, all of them hanging out in the main room with Rukia. He saw a man who looked almost like Ichigo except with black hair, a pretty woman with black hair, a lean man reclining on the couch and reading a book, a pale-skinned man with green eyes and long black hair reading a copy of Margaret Atwood’s _The Blind Assassin_ , and a tall and rough-looking man with brown hair who was sleeping with his arms folded across his chest.

While he recognized the Ichigo-lookalike to be Shiba Kaien, one of Ichigo’s cousins whom he’d met a while back, he didn’t recognize the others.

As he slid his shoes off, he gave Byakuya a questioning look. “Who are they?” he asked.

“My backing band,” Byakuya said, leading Renji to the main room. “They’re known as Nejibana and they specialize in symphonic and neoclassical metal styles of music. I’ve been recording my album with them.”

Upon seeing Renji, the woman gently shook the sleeping man awake. “We have a guest,” she told him.

“This is Shiba Kaien, the lead guitarist and bandleader,” Byakuya was saying as he gestured to the dark-haired Ichigo-lookalike. “And this is Shiba Miyako, the rhythm guitarist and his wife.” He gestured to the man reading, “Tsukishima Shukuro, the keyboardist.” Next was the guy with green eyes, “Ulquiorra Cifer, the bassist.” And then to the guy who’d been shaken awake. “And Coyote Starrk, the drummer.”

Renji gave them a smile. “Abarai Renji,” he introduced. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Abarai-kun,” Miyako said, bowing slightly.

“Yo, Abarai! How’s it going?” Kaien greeted.

“Pleased to meet you,” Tsukishima said politely.

Ulquiorra gave him a nod of acknowledgement. “A pleasure,” he said.

“Nice to meet you,” Starrk added.

“They’re here to supervise the recording session,” Rukia explained to Renji. “You’ve been practicing the song, haven’t you?”

“Of course,” Renji said, giving her an incredulous look. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

A small smile teased the corners of Byakuya’s lips at their banter. Of course Renji would’ve been practicing the song. “Very well then,” he said. “Perhaps we should get started.”

They headed to Byakuya’s recording studio and Renji got behind the window, sliding the headphones on as he pulled out the lyrics sheet. Once Rukia got things ready, they immediately got started.

“You ready, Renji?” Rukia asked.

Renji responded with a thumbs-up, so Rukia started up the tracks.

The metronome gave its four ticks before the main melody started playing.

As it turned out, a good majority of the song had been recorded. Byakuya had already recorded his own vocals and the piano parts while all of Nejibana had recorded majority of their parts. All that was left was to record some more of their parts and to do Renji’s vocals.

Once more, Renji was amazed at how good Byakuya’s voice sounded, but he made sure to stay focused. When his cue came up, he immediately started singing the first verse after the chorus. The lyrics were as if he was asking someone whether they loved him or not, and that he would accept it if they didn’t since some things could not be changed in this world.

Byakuya’s voice began singing the chorus through the headphones in that same earnest, gentle way that never failed to make Renji’s heart beat a little faster. When the chorus was over and his cue came, Renji began singing the second verse. This time, the lyrics were about how it was difficult to express with words the joys he felt with this person, but that was why he kept on smiling. The lyrics were very honest and poetic, and Renji could tell that this was going to be a great song.

After recording was finished, Renji stayed behind with Byakuya to help him edit the song. In between editing, Renji decided to bring up the photoshoot preview he’d gotten a look at the other day.

“So, I got a look at that photo you’d posted,” Renji said casually.

Byakuya paused. “You did?” he asked. “What’d you think of it?”

“Well, all I can say is that you looked fucking gorgeous,” Renji told him, enjoying the way Byakuya’s cheeks flushed red. “A French aristocrat, huh? Didn’t know you had a theatrical side, Byakuya.”

At that, Byakuya smiled slightly. “Well, of course,” he said. “All of you portray yourselves to your fans in a certain way, so I wanted to portray myself in my own style.” He glanced at Renji. “I was thinking about portraying myself as a lonely aristocrat with a dark side who longs for love. And besides, the Rococo-style suits the symphonic style of my third single and majority of my album.”

Renji was surprised. “You’re gonna release a third single?” he asked.

“It’s called ‘Ikka Senjinka’, and it’ll be in the symphonic metal style,” Byakuya said. “I’ll admit, I look forward to that one. I never knew that making music in the symphonic metal style could be so fun. In fact, I’ve even added it onto my setlist so it’ll be four songs now.”

“And what’s your outfit gonna be like for the live?” Renji asked. “More of the aristocratic style?”

“Indeed it is,” Byakuya said. “I’ve grown to like that style in particular.”

At that, Renji grinned. “Really embracing your theatrical side, ain’t you?” he teased.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Byakuya asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not at all, I actually think it’s pretty hot!” Renji said honestly. He then smiled teasingly as he kissed Byakuya’s cheek. “Besides, it kinda turns me on, seeing you in all that makeup and pretty clothes. Really makes me wanna fuck you blind.”

Byakuya’s cheeks flushed red as he stared at Renji in utter disbelief, which made Renji start laughing. However, Byakuya couldn’t help but chuckle as well, shaking his head at his lover’s crudeness. Sure, it may embarrass him sometimes, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the Byakuya-Renji version of 'Sen no Yoru wo Koete' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed_foVaealE)
> 
> And here is the song I planned for 'Ikka Senjinka' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfG3SKToS14). Personally, I think symphonic metal suits Byakuya a lot, especially Versailles' and Kamijo's music. I highly recommend listening to them, especially if you want to imagine Byakuya as a gorgeous 18th-century French nobleman~
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


End file.
